Spain’s British population keeps growing even though Brexit made it considerably harder for them to move here on a whim. New Eurostat data shows that Spain clearly outweighs all other EU nations when it comes to first-time residency permits issued to Brits.
New Eurostat figure show that some 43,600 British citizens obtained a first residence permit in the EU in 2024, similar to the previous years.
UK citizens were in the top five nationalities obtaining a first residence permit in Norway (1,270) and Switzerland (3,068).
But Spain was – perhaps unsurprisingly – the country that issued the largest number of new permits to British citizens – 12,653.
That means that Spain granted 29 percent of the total of EU residence permits issued to Brits last year. France (8,073), Germany (3,753), and the Netherlands (3,445) followed.
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In 2023, Spain issued 10,166 residency authorisations to UK nationals, in 2022 it was 10,249 and in 2021 – the first year there’s data following Brexit coming into force – it was 17,662.
This data does not include Britons covered by the Withdrawal Agreement because they were living in Spain prior to Brexit, in which case they do not need to apply for a visa to live in Spain and hold most of the same rights they had in Spain as EU nationals.
Eurostat does not specify what type of initial permits Brits in Spain have obtained, be it the non-lucrative visa, the digital nomad visa or other.
According to Spain’s Immigration Observatory, as of June 30th 2025, there are 23,319 UK nationals with these residency authorisations that require a visa. These are Brits who moved to Spain post-Brexit.
When comparing this number with the Eurostat data from 2021 to 2024, it reflects that many thousands of British first-time permit holders have also left Spain during this period.
READ ALSO: ‘Frustrating, but don’t give up’ – How easy is it for Brits to move to Spain
Data from Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion also shows that there is a far higher number of UK nationals residing in Spain since before Brexit, who are either holding onto their own green certificates meant for EU nationals (188,893 people) or who are in possession of a WA TIE residency card (213,558).
Over the past years, the UK Embassy has repeatedly urged these green certificate holders to exchange their paper residency documents for the newer Withdrawal Agreement TIE cards, especially now given the launch of the EU’s EES system in October.
READ MORE: UK Embassy insists Brits in Spain get TIEs or risk being ‘treated as overstayers’
Based on Spain’s latest immigration data, on June 30th 2025 there were 425,770 UK nationals who were officially residing in Spain.
This represents an increase in Spain’s British population of 6,704 when compared the same date a year earlier.
Brexit may have made it considerably harder for Britons to move to Spain and spend as much time in the country as they see fit, but España clearly still remains the favourite destination for UK nationals who want to live in the EU, regardless of the bureaucratic barriers.
READ ALSO: The best work visas and tips for Brits moving to Spain post-Brexit
